New Lyman 4 Cavity Mold - First Impressions

[Taterhead]

Well...fully aware of this sprue problem, I went ahead and ordered a 4 cav. 452374...



it too had the sprue plate problem...

I used a tapered diamond die grinder bit to relieve that straight portion of the bottom of the hole...I didn't go at it too hard, thought I'd just remove some of that straight part that keeps the sprue hanging in the plate...



It worked...they come out now when the plate swings free of the mould...



Shoddy craftsmanship like this sprue plate ordeal makes it hard to remain loyal.

The problem of having them come out a tad bit too small... .4517" ~ .4519" is not a problem, I expected that part casting with a soft blend like 11 BHN and less because the PC more than makes up for the sizing...I size @ 4525" after the PC.

I wish rcbs made 4 cavity iron moulds. 2 cavities just too slow for me and I have a bunch of them

I agree! RCBS still makes a nice mold.

[jwlegal]

I came in pretty frustrated. Have a new RCBS mold and sprue sticks to the plate. Have to pull it off and that is not going to get a lot of casting done. That is pretty much why I spend so much time on this site. Thanks for the answer to the problem. Already smoothed the sprue plate but was trying to figure a way to get the holes open just a little more to avoid the overhand on the bottom. Answered that one for me. Nice to know that there are folks around that already had the problem and found a way to fix it and not afraid to share the information. Thanks guys. Will have a boolet maker shortly.

[Echo]

Tater, this is a problem that goes much deeper than the mere fit and finish of this Lyman mould...not only is it drill bits that need sharpening and machines that need adjusting and jigs that need aligning, it's a lack of 'esprit de corps' within their organization.
Not only have the costs of manufacturing been rung out excessively but the application and management of the labor force has most likely seen the same coarse actions from above on the corporate floor where they specialize in lack of common sense solutions...where they pound round pegs into square holes to save a penny...dang the relations.
I've seen it happen to my customers several times...they start out a Ma & Paw business and run for a decade or so, employees and management alike have a keene sense of duty and responsibility to manufacture a top shelf product, people are proud of what they've accomplished together. Then one day for whatever reason...here comes a bean counter or a crew of them specializing in fine tuning a factory where they don't even understand the product going out the back door.
They look at and treat the employees as non human objects...see them as a mere cost that needs trimming...it goes on and on until the family of workers in that little manufacturing facility become unrecognizable to the fella like me who installed their first machines a decade ago.
One day I walk in to find a new plant engineer instead of the old cigar smoking gentleman who understood every heartbeat of the operation. Now I am dealing with a young graduate from some college or university that has never had dirty grimy hands, some new kid that has never spent a holiday weekend around the clock performing surgery on a plant that has to re-open and run on the following Monday morning and on time to boot . . . a new man that is filling the shoes of a man for 1/2 the cost of the old gentleman, and here it will begin.
I go into the bowels of the plant and find many new faces, faces without smiles wearing blank uncaring looks on their faces...then I realize that the bean counters have arrived.
Sometimes it is that the factory has been sold and the new owners are just 'streamlining' and sometimes it is actually needed for the company to grow and expand into the future...volumes could be written regarding this but the bottom line is that somewhere in the past they lost the original focus and purpose of making that product and the factory started to morph into some kind of hybrid 'AI' environment.
I like to call it Corporate Greed where the bottom line is more important and has the constant focus of the suits in management...and I like to refer to the corporate team of experts collectively as the bean counters as unfair as it may sound . . . for my perspective is from the factory floor where blood sweat and tears are invested and there are no suits and ties...just blue collar boys using good common sense, boys that used to be considered the backbone of any industry.

So...there's a 2¢ estimate at what's basically wrong with this particular mould...nothing personal against the professional bean counter.

As a retired Mgmt Consultant (CQE,CQA,QSA), I agree totally. Management starts at the top, as does Quality, and if the top isn't populated with People persons, and perfectionists who want the customers to receive the best product possible, then quality suffers, the reputation goes downhill, no one is invested in making it right, and the business suffers. The Top should actually be thought of as the Bottom, supporting all those above, providing top equipment and supplies, providing outstanding workplace, providing good pay and benefits, and providing leadership by example and enthusiasm. Can be done - but too many at or near the top have had NO Mgmt training, learning Mgmt on the job, which is about the worst way to learn Mgmt - Diatribe over...

[Walks]

I had a very similar problem 3yrs ago when I got back into casting.
Bought 2 new Lyman .44Cal molds a 2cav #429244GC and 4cav # 429667.
Both molds dropped undersized bullets. And by Undersized, I mean .427dia cast of Lyman #2 alloy.

I packed them carefully in a sm priority box w/o plastic boxes or instruction sheets or Inspection tags.
After 2 weeks of waiting, I called. Was told that since I didn't write the Return Authorization # on the outside of the box they would have been returned to me.

Then it got interesting,

I asked for the tracking #, She couldn't find it. I said the U.S.P.S. website shows the box was delivered 8 days ago.
Where are my molds ? "I don't know" was not an acceptable answer. I was shifted to the CS Mgr. He told me they would find my molds and email back. Three days later i called back, Oh' "we found them in shipping and are sending them back to you.

"I asked is the undersized problem fixed". I had to explain to him what an undersized mold was. The CUSTOMER SERVICE MANAGER for the OLDEST RELOADING COMPANY in Existence did not even reload, or even own a GUN !!!! They just sent back 2 new molds. GEEZ !!!!

Well I got the 2 new molds, the names/dates on the inspection tags seemed familiar. I checked the "previous molds boxes" same people inspected these molds on the same day. Cast bullets freaking UNDERSIZED !!! Again !!!

I called them back again, spoke to the Same CS Mgr. He didn't know what to do. i told him that obviously someone on the shop floor had continued to use these Cherries past their useful life. "What's a Cherry?"

I'm glad the bricks are on the outside of my house, otherwise I would have beat my brains out right then. I asked if I could speak to the Shop Mgr ? He wasn't in that day. And I couldn't have his name. I said thank you very much. I'm going to write to every Gun/hunting/shooting magazine out there and post on every website all about the "Sterling Customer Service that I've received from Lyman." I hung up. I sat for awhile thinking what to compose in that letter to all the Gun Mag Editors.

Then I remembered something. A few months earlier I had emailed to a Gun Mag Editor about an error in a story. He emailed me back with info referencing the sequence of Lyman #'s. And referred me to someone at Lyman.
And sure enough I had archived this Man's email address. So I shot off an email to him outlining my problem.
He called me back on the phone the next day. Said to send the molds to his attention and He would personally fix the problem. They came back and both dropped .431 exactly from all cavities.

I think if Lyman Upper Mgmt paid more attention to the quality control of their Core Product Line, and stopped introducing "trinkets" that there would not be the big market that there is for N.O.E., Accurate, Arsenal and MP-Molds.